Dawson Simpson tops list of the most-dropped AFL players since 2010
The superstars get the acclaim, but it’s time to acknowledge the role-playing journeymen who have to do it the hard way. Check out the players who have felt the selection axe more than any others.
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For every superstar there’s half a dozen low-profile role players.
They are those who sacrifice their game, are made to recognise their limitations and do the heavy-lifting outside the limelight.
They are often the sacrificial lambs, seemingly spending their careers standing nervously above the selection trap door.
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Indeed, they are the first to go south when things go south.
For the stars of the competition, Thursday is just another day. For these men it is hours of nailbiting before the team is named for the weekend.
The Herald Sun has compiled a list of the most dropped AFL players since 2010, not including games missed through injury.
The aim is not to humiliate, but to recognise. We rightly lavish the elite, but it takes a list to win a flag.
Dawson Simpson was drafted in 2007 and debuted in 2010. Since running out for Geelong that year, the big ruckman has been dropped 16 times and played 42 games for the Cats and Greater Western Sydney.
That’s every two and a half games that Simpson has been sent back to the VFL or NEAFL.
Even for the third biggest-footballer in the game’s history (210cm), that’s a lot of pride to swallow.
“One thing I’ve had over my career is I’ve had to work hard for pretty much all the games I’ve played,” Simpson said earlier this year.
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“Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst. That’s something I’ve been doing the last few years in Sydney.
“I’ve always been looking at jobs and where I can be outside of footy and just taking it as it comes.”
Further north, Ryan Lester has played 122 games for the Brisbane Lions, but has bounced back from being dumped 14 times to get there.
Shane Savage has appeared 150 times since 2010 for the Hawks and St Kilda. He’s also been omitted 14 times along with Travis Colyer, who was last year traded by Essendon to Fremantle.
George Horlin-Smith left Geelong for Gold Coast in search of more opportunities, but has also found himself in and out of Stuart Dew’s side and has been omitted 13 times in 57 career games over eight seasons.
These are the grafters and often the journeymen.
It’s an elite level, best-of-the-best national competition and in the weekly debates over Brownlow contenders, best-this and best-that, we can forget that.
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